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MReport February 2018

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54 | TH E M R EP O RT O R I G I NAT I O N S E R V I C I N G DATA G O V E R N M E N T S E C O N DA R Y M A R K E T THE LATEST GOVERNMENT HUD Grants Put Housing First More than $2 billion in support will impact local housing and service programs. T he Department of Hous- ing and Urban Devel- opment announced an award of $2 billion in support of thousands of local hous- ing and service programs across the U.S. last month. This year's install- ment of the annual HUD Continu- um of Care grants will assist more than 7,300 local programs working to house and serve individuals and families experiencing home - lessness in their communities. According to a HUD media statement, "HUD's Continuum of Care grants provide critically needed support to local programs on the front lines of serving indi - viduals and families experiencing homelessness." HUD Secretary Ben Carson said, "HUD stands with our local partners who are working each and every day to house and serve our most vulnerable neighbors. We know how to end homeless - ness and it starts with embracing a housing-first approach that relies upon proven strategies that offer permanent housing solutions to those who may otherwise be living in our shelters and on our streets." Secretary Carson added that working to house the homeless is both the "human thing to do" and "good public policy." Matthew Doherty, Executive Director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, said, "Continuums of Care are critical leaders in the work to end homelessness nationwide. When communities marshal these—and other local, state, private, and philanthropic resources—behind the strongest housing-first prac - tices, we see important progress in our collective goal to end homelessness in America." According to HUD, "HUD Continuum of Care grant fund - ing supports a broad array of interventions designed to assist individuals and families experi- encing homelessness, particularly those living in places not meant for habitation, located in sheltering programs, or at imminent risk of becoming homeless." California topped the list of state and local programs being funded by the grants, with 900 programs be - ing funded for a total of $382,566,777. Behind California comes New York (579 programs and $200 million in funding), Illinois (418 programs and $109 million in funding), Pennsylvania (519 programs and $102 million in funding), and Ohio (316 programs and $95 million in funding). HUD noted that application deadlines for programs located in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands had been extended until February 16, 2018, due to the hurricane recovery efforts still underway in those regions. Those grants will be allocated separately from the announced $2 billion in funding and are due to be an - nounced sometime in mid-March. According to HUD estimates released in December 2017, 553,742 people experience homelessness in America on any given night. Navigating the Future of Fannie and Freddie The Federal Housing Finance Agency released its 2018 goals for its government-sponsored enterprises. W ith an eye on a hot hous- ing market in 2018, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) released its 2018 goals for its government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs)—Fannie Mae and Fred - die Mac—and Common Securitization Solutions (CSS). FHFA said that in 2018 it would score the GSEs and CSS on the following goals: Maintaining credit availability and fore - closure prevention activities for new and refinanced mortgages in a safe and sound manner to foster liquid, efficient, competi- tive, and resilient national housing finance markets; reducing taxpayer risk through increasing the role of private capital in the mortgage market; and building a new single- family infrastructure for use by the GSEs and adaptable for use by other participants in the secondary market in the future. For all Scorecard items, the GSEs and CSS will be assessed on the following criteria: The extent to which each GSE conducts initiatives in a safe and sound manner consistent with FHFA's expectations for all activities; The extent to which the out - comes of each Enterprise's activities sup- port a competitive and resilient secondary mortgage market to support homeowners and renters; The extent to which each GSE conducts initiatives with consider - ation for diversity and inclusion consistent with FHFA's expectations for all activities; Cooperation and collaboration with FHFA, each other, the industry and other stakeholders; and The quality, thoroughness, creativity, effectiveness, and timeliness of their work products. For 2018, FHFA advised both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to efficiently and effectively operate their single-family and multifamily business activities in a manner that supports safety and soundness, mar - ket liquidity, and access to credit. Going into 2018, the FHFA also expects the GSEs to continue single-family and multifamily credit risk transfers as core business practices and will adjust targets as necessary to reflect market conditions and economic considerations. The FHFA has advised the GSEs to continue to refine and improve their credit risk transfer pro - grams. FHFA plans to publish the actual amount of credit risk transferred by each GSE in CRT progress reports. The FHFA also advised the GSEs and CSS to implement the Single Security initiative on the Common Securitization Platform (CSP) for both GSEs by the second quarter of 2019.

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